YOGA-ARTICLE: Cleanliness is a recipe to a successful practice

We all know about the importance of keeping our body clean. But it is equally important to maintain the inner cleanliness. What does the cleanness of the inner Universe mean? What recommendations does yoga give for impurities elimination?

A well-known proverb says “Cleanliness is godliness!” It can be paraphrased as “Cleanliness is  a secret to a successful practice!” It is believed that there is nothing clean or dirty, there is something appropriate or inappropriate in yoga. The same factor in different situations can be both clean and dirty, such as sand on the table and sand in a sandbox. The trouble is, we often cannot distinguish one from the other.  We clog our structures, body and mind with inappropriate factors.

Yoga offers a variety of practices, which help to break down barriers, clean the way to ourselves and remove all improprieties from our structures.

Caring for the inner Universe

It is very important to maintain the cleanness of our individual Universe, including our body, thoughts, feelings, emotions and mood.

1) Nutrition

Diet and nutrition is a personal decision. However, there are foods with a certain range of substances that always harm and clog any organism. For example, there are various food additives, stale food, overcooked food, dry food. We should avoid using them. We should also keep track of our feelings after a meal, so we get to know how different foods affect our health. We should know which foods make us feel heavy and sleepy or on the contrary too excited, and which food gives a feeling of fullness, good mood and a clear state of mind.

2) Personal hygiene

In the modern world, most people have all the conditions to maintain personal hygiene. So this issue is not acute in our days. 

Personal hygiene includes taking care of the body from the outside, but also cleaning the body from the inside. Sometimes it is useful to “clean up” our digestive system fully to get rid of toxins. We should prepare carefully for that.

It is highly recommended to take a shower to refresh the sensations of the body before each yoga practice.

3) Thoughts

We can clean ourselves of physical dirt, but also we have negative thoughts in our mind and savor them. As a result, we are in bad mood, which negatively affects all our affairs, including the practice of yoga. Therefore, we should learn to track negative thoughts and get rid of mental trash. The practice of Meditation can be helpful.

4) Information

Every day any person absorbs a large stream of information without analysing it.  

Since it is impossible to eat rotten or falsified food without paying the consequences, we should carefully “eat” the products of the media, because it is food for our mind.

We begin visualizing our world and incarnating it in our life based on the stream of information observed.

It is very important to learn tracking and filtering any incoming information. Every time when you read books, magazines, surf social networks, watch TV, show interest in various conversations and gossip in society, you should ask yourself the question: “Is this information relevant to me, or am I wasting my time and clogging my mind?”

5) Communication

In the modern world there are few people living in caves and spending all their time alone. We usually live in society, interact with other people. We have a duty to some of them, others help us to achieve our goals. But we communicate with some people out of habit, although we often feel the burden and uselessness of such communication. It can be one contact or a whole circle of contacts, requiring additional resources and leading away from our goals. When we want to break any contact, we should not cause harm unless it is absolutely necessary; we should try our best to minimize harm. If it is impossible, we should follow our duty

The outer world is a reflection of the inner world

When we clean the outer world, we clean ourselves. So even cleaning the house can be turned into a yoga practice. Let’s pay attention to the place of practice. It demands a delicate attitude. Nothing should distract us during practice.

1) Area

We should clean the place for personal practice at home, in the living room or on the terrace  regularly. So that any small crumbs and  debris do not distract attention and concentration during the practice.

Also, we should take away  any  objects that can  distract our attention. For example, it could be a pile of dry laundry which makes us  think about the ironing, and not about the practice.

2) Air

Various smells in the air or stuffiness can also disconcert a practitioner. Therefore, it is advisable to ventilate the room before the practice.

3) Sounds

The hardest part is eliminating any distracting sounds. If they are not strong, you can shift your attention by turning on some soft music.

It is important to remember: “A neat place is not where we clean, but where we don’t litter.” If we will  continue to bring dirt into our lives after cleaning, we will not make any progress.. It is not enough to clean up, it is necessary to maintain it!

Don’t wait for ideal conditions for the practice. We should do our best to maintain purity in the personal and surrounding Universe: achieve appropriateness in nutrition, social circle, incoming information, thoughts. The main thing is practice! Over time, yoga will help you to clean both outside and inside!

 Control the cleanness of your manifestations and be happy!

Article author: Yulia Volievskaya

Editorial: Evgeniya Khmelinina, Mirra, M. Saraswati-Bhavani, Kerigona

Project curator: Kerigona

Translator: Way, Tatiana Atishaya, Tatiana Sugrue